A waterfront home in West Yarmouth is remodeled with an eclectic blend of styles, lines and textures.
Construction:
ST. PETER BUILDERS
Text:
LYNN VAN DINE
Photography:
PATRICK WISEMAN
From the outside, it looks like a simple Cape Cod bungalow, tucked at the end of a tidy cul de sac overlooking Nantucket Sound. But on the inside, this West Yarmouth home is anything but simple. And the interior is more that of an elegant-yet-eclectic mansion … sort of Italian villa meets French country and Cape Cod chic.
The remodeling project is a source of pride for builder Sturgis St. Peter of St. Peter Builders in Barnstable. A 12th-generation Cape Codder, St. Peter says the original home was a small, dark “box”—a saltbox, in fact—of 1,400 square feet, built in the 1970s. Its best feature was its location, perched on the lip of a salt marsh that sweeps down to Lewis Bay, offering spectacular open views of the water and Great Island.
“It was strange, the way it was built,” St. Peter says. “They had the chimney right on the wall facing the water, blocking the view. It had leaky skylights and the ceilings were low, about seven feet high. It was post and beam, but it didn’t look country.”
“When I first bought it, it was awful. It was so dark and dreary,” says the new owner, a New York entrepreneur. Instead, she wanted open spaces and lots of windows. “I want to be able to see this view. I want the house to be a reflection of what I think is beautiful.”
“She didn’t want anything square,” says St. Peter. “She likes curves and open spaces. She wanted a little bit of everything.”
St. Peter called on Kenneth Sadler Jr. of Hyannis to develop a custom design for the house. A builder from 1974 to 1990, Sadler has been designing buildings for more than 16 years. He says he was “a bit hesitant in the beginning” to tackle this project.
“As a designer, my job is to design what the client wants, and that’s not always what I would like to see,” Sadler says. “I felt there were too many different kinds of windows in this house. There wasn’t any style to the house. It’s very eclectic, but it turned out to be exactly what the client wanted. She was ecstatic, and, for me, that’s the bottom line.”
Working within the restrictions of a lot abutting conservation-protected land, Sadler created an open floor plan of 2,658 square feet with a 1 1/2-story central hall with glass double doors that open onto the water-view terrace. Immense windows open up three-quarters of the height of the flanking walls to give the sense that the marsh is indeed part of the home.
Building the house from Sadler’s design took two years, as the owner requested different ideas, details and materials during construction, says St. Peter. Sometimes the work had to stop as he waited for specially ordered surfaces or materials. “It took a long time,” he says, “but she’s happy with the result.”
The process of designing the interior took a lot of creativity and flexibility on the part of both the owner and St. Peter. “I’d find something I liked in a magazine or a picture or something, and I’d show it to Sturgis and say ‘That’s what I want,’” she recalls. “It was sometimes one detail, or maybe I’d like the paint finish. I’d bring him the magazine—or whatever—and show him.”
St. Peter nods. “I told her that as long as she could show me a picture of what she meant, I’d give it a try. And that meant a lot of changes or long waits as I tried to procure special materials, like the onyx countertop that came from Pakistan. That took six weeks.”
The owner’s taste in dramatic statements shows in the second-floor landing which has an intricate rail of wood and wrought iron sweeping from one side of the arched window past the master bedroom and under an open skylight, creating a comma-shaped curve separating the front of the house from the back. The wall supporting the balcony bears a mural featuring a vintage European-style sailing woman, painted by decorative painter Lindsay Hopkins of Barnstable.
The entry reflects the owner’s eclectic taste and sense of textures and colors. The entry floor is made up of river rock, framed by the polished wide-plank red oak floor. On one side is the living room, with a wall of high windows leading to a corner gas fireplace faced by a low sofa and seats. On the other side, a hallway of blush-colored stone tiles edged in river rock leads to an office, a pantry and a guest bath.
St. Peter took extra care with the casement of the doors and windows, using a bronze oil rub to deepen their tones. The deep finish contrasts with the etched glass inset in the pantry doors. St. Peter customized the pantry with open shelving, cabinetry and racks to accommodate the owner’s odd-sized serving dishes, glassware and accessories. He also fit in a small bar. “When I have people over, it’s all right there,” says the owner.
St. Peter refurbished a vintage Queen Anne sideboard into a bathroom vanity by topping it with marble and inset with a cobalt glass sink that can be illuminated from below. On the retro-style quartz and limestone tile floor sits a graceful claw-foot tub.
The kitchen is at the other end of the blush-tiled hall, with a freestanding island facing the dining room featuring a wall of windows on the commanding view of the marsh. The cabinetry, by D. Scott Horgan Renovations in Hyannis, is French country, with maple painted in a warm white to match a massive china cabinet in the dining room. The countertops are made of a veined granite resembling marble.
The focal point of the kitchen is a ceramic seascape mural in honeyed browns and cool blues that runs the length of the area, designed by artist and potter Sarah Holl of Scargo Pottery in South Dennis. “It looks just like what you can see out the windows,” says the owner.
The kitchen is fitted with fine fixtures and appliances: a deep farmhouse sink with a Kohler high-necked faucet, a Wolf range with gas grill, a Subzero refrigerator with two freezer drawers, and a convection oven stacked with a standard oven over a warming drawer.
The workings of the cabinetry evidence great attention to detail. The drawers whisper shut with Blumotion fittings, and cabinet contents are easily reached with pullout extension shelves.
The dining room’s tall casement windows topped with transoms look out on the slate-stone terrace with its wrought-iron café table and chairs. The dining room is furnished with a French country table and chairs painted in creamy white to match the imposing china cabinet.
A hall from the dining room leads to a wide oak-and-pine staircase that goes to the second floor. At the top of the landing is the guest room, which is decorated in greens and blues, keying on the shades of a shimmering custom coverlet on the bed. The room’s French doors lead to a Juliet balcony overlooking the backyard.
The shower in the room’s connecting bath was tiled by St. Peter in a customized blue and green design made to replicate the pattern in the bed’s coverlet. A matching vanity, made from a vintage desk and bureau, is painted in the same color scheme. The angel design was inspired by a decoration on a box found by the owner, which now sits on the dresser beneath. “The owner wanted to go for a Tuscany theme,” said St. Peter.
Hopkins also added her decorative touch to the customized walk-in closet with a painting of angels just beneath the skylight. Down the hall, she brightened the laundry room with a decoration of a stylized washerwoman.
Tall windows in the dramatic master bedroom offer impressive views of the marsh and Lewis Bay. Several of the owner’s magazine-sparked inspirations went into the design of her bedroom and bath. The walls are painted to resemble a deep-colored marble, which contrasts with the white marble columns supporting a Victorian pediment over the opening to a private hall.
The hall leads past two customized walk-in closets to an enormous bath, brightly lit by windows and a circular ceiling inset brightened by fiber-optic twinkling lights, which can be most appreciated while reclining at night in the $10,000 European tub nesting in a frame of cast metal vines. The vanity supports a specially imported translucent onyx countertop accented with brass faucet and knobs. “We had to wait quite a while for that,” St. Peter says of the imported onyx.
St. Peter designed and built the tumbled tile shower with its molded glass doors and faux marble columns. It is flanked with a narrow floor-to-ceiling, five-shelf cabinet that pulls out like a pocket door.
The exterior of the house belies its interior opulence with a charming traditional shingle exterior. However, a trace of the eclectic remains, with a round painted window for the second-floor master bath hovering over the traditional double-hung windows on the first floor, and an oval window positioned at the first floor office. A serene lawn flows from the front to the water side of the house and surrounds the terrace. “I think it’s good, in a way,” says St. Peter. “People looking from the outside see a nice house, but they have no idea how much is going on inside. You go in and it’s a surprise.”
St. Peter says $600,000 was budgeted for the project, which actually came in at $576,000. “This job really challenged me. There was a lot to it. Sometimes, it could be aggravating,” he says. “But the owner’s happy and that’s all I care about. Then I’m happy, too.”
The workings of the cabinetry evidence great attention to detail. The drawers whisper shut with Blumotion fittings, and cabinet contents are easily reached with pullout extension shelves.
The dining room’s tall casement windows topped with transoms look out on the slate-stone terrace with its wrought-iron café table and chairs. The dining room is furnished with a French country table and chairs painted in creamy white to match the imposing china cabinet.
A hall from the dining room leads to a wide oak-and-pine staircase that goes to the second floor. At the top of the landing is the guest room, which is decorated in greens and blues, keying on the shades of a shimmering custom coverlet on the bed. The room’s French doors lead to a Juliet balcony overlooking the backyard.
The shower in the room’s connecting bath was tiled by St. Peter in a customized blue and green design made to replicate the pattern in the bed’s coverlet. A matching vanity, made from a vintage desk and bureau, is painted in the same color scheme. The angel design was inspired by a decoration on a box found by the owner, which now sits on the dresser beneath. “The owner wanted to go for a Tuscany theme,” said St. Peter.
Hopkins also added her decorative touch to the customized walk-in closet with a painting of angels just beneath the skylight. Down the hall, she brightened the laundry room with a decoration of a stylized washerwoman.
Tall windows in the dramatic master bedroom offer impressive views of the marsh and Lewis Bay. Several of the owner’s magazine-sparked inspirations went into the design of her bedroom and bath. The walls are painted to resemble a deep-colored marble, which contrasts with the white marble columns supporting a Victorian pediment over the opening to a private hall.
The hall leads past two customized walk-in closets to an enormous bath, brightly lit by windows and a circular ceiling inset brightened by fiber-optic twinkling lights, which can be most appreciated while reclining at night in the $10,000 European tub nesting in a frame of cast metal vines. The vanity supports a specially imported translucent onyx countertop accented with brass faucet and knobs. “We had to wait quite a while for that,” St. Peter says of the imported onyx.
St. Peter designed and built the tumbled tile shower with its molded glass doors and faux marble columns. It is flanked with a narrow floor-to-ceiling, five-shelf cabinet that pulls out like a pocket door.
The exterior of the house belies its interior opulence with a charming traditional shingle exterior. However, a trace of the eclectic remains, with a round painted window for the second-floor master bath hovering over the traditional double-hung windows on the first floor, and an oval window positioned at the first floor office. A serene lawn flows from the front to the water side of the house and surrounds the terrace. “I think it’s good, in a way,” says St. Peter. “People looking from the outside see a nice house, but they have no idea how much is going on inside. You go in and it’s a surprise.”
St. Peter says $600,000 was budgeted for the project, which actually came in at $576,000. “This job really challenged me. There was a lot to it. Sometimes, it could be aggravating,” he says. “But the owner’s happy and that’s all I care about. Then I’m happy, too.”
Visit our Where to Buy Section
for information on purchasing products from this
project.
|
